Woodstock District 200 board tentatively approves Oct. 19 hybrid learning start

The Woodstock School District 200 school board in a Tuesday special meeting voted, 5-0, to approve a plan to transition students back into classrooms in a hybrid learning model featuring some coursework in person.

While the plan comes with a tentative start date of Oct. 19, the board's vote is contingent upon the McHenry County Department of Health showing on its online dashboard that the four metrics tied to its reopening framework have been met.

Several school districts in the county have committed to using the metrics as guidance for making decisions around bringing students into buildings.

District 200 school board president Carl Gilmore said from observing state health department data on McHenry County, it appeared the pandemic had actually gained steam, with growing daily case numbers through late last week.

“I would have a problem with approving this until we know we have those metrics. It creates the impression that we are going back to school on Oct. 19, and if we don’t have the metrics, we don’t know that,” Gilmore said. “I don’t know that we’re in a position to say we’re starting on the 19th. It could be the 26th. If the metrics change, this isn’t going to be implemented.”

A McHenry County health department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment late Tuesday on when the online dashboard featuring the metrics meant to guide schools will be publicly available.

District 200 officials are set to send materials Wednesday to students’ families outlining the tentative plan and asking them to indicate whether their children will continue with fully remote learning or make the switch to a hybrid schedule. It also will ask them to decide whether their students will be taking the bus to school for in-person classes under the hybrid model.

District officials plan to redraw bus routes based on their responses.

The tentative hybrid learning schedule passed by the board, which would be used through at least the winter holiday break, involves splitting students at all grade levels into two groups.

Under the tentatively approved plan, one group of students would attend the first half of their schedules in-person on Mondays, and then go home for remote learning in the afternoon, and then attend the second half of their schedules on Tuesdays, with more remote learning in the afternoon.

The other group would attend classes in-person on Wednesdays and Thursdays with remote learning in the afternoons, and Fridays would be remote learning days allowing students to study or to catch up on recently assigned or missed classwork.

Gilmore called to attention the wide spectrum of perspectives shared at board meetings Tuesday and in recent weeks on how well remote learning is working for children at various grades, noting there are differing cohorts of parents of children of all ages.

Some believe returning to school next month would be too soon as the pandemic continues, and others believe it is past time to start a hybrid learning plan, Gilmore said. Still others believe schools should be operating regularly.

“My wife will be interacting with over 140 students. She will only be as safe as the safest person in that group,” Joshua Thusat, whose wife is a high school English teacher, said in an email read to the board during public comment Tuesday.

He urged a cautious approach to reopening, adding, “E-learning is not ideal. The teachers know this, the children know this, everyone knows. But we are trying to stop death in its tracks.”